Many of these opportunities were afforded to him through the
Emma Bowen Foundation Scholarship. The program, which awards scholarships to
minority college students who aspire toward a career in media, connects
promising candidates with industry internships. For Anderson, this led to work
at WPR, as well as an array of networking opportunities at national conferences
that inspire his creative endeavors on campus.

“Working at Wisconsin Public Radio has been one of the most
valuable educational experiences in my college career,” he says. “Experiences
like that one, whether it’s interning somewhere or making connections with
someone in the field you hope to go into, are opportunities for self-discovery.
It’s so interesting to see what knowledge you gain outside of the classroom and
be able to apply realistic examples of concepts brought up in various courses.
I think my experiences interning reaffirmed my passion for the media
industry.”

“

Creating art and media that has a social justice element to it is essential to life for me. Just as essential as eating or breathing.

Malik Anderson

However, something deeper unifies Anderson’s well-rounded resume: issues of identity and diversity. “When we talk about bias in the media, we don’t often take into account that there are factors in our stories that are missing,” says Anderson. “There’s a crucial human element that is ignored when we don’t acknowledge identity.”

His concerns about representation solidified when he noticed his cohort in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication was comprised of only four other black students: one woman and three men. This realization motivated him to start the NAJB, a campus group that aims to connect journalists of color across campus to collaborate on projects and discuss issues about media diversification.

“When the media reflects our identity, it means that much more,” he says. “I’m glad to be part of this new era of journalism that’s becoming more reflective of that.”

He is particularly grateful for his Communication Arts education, which supports his interest in critical media studies around topics of race and sexuality. “It’s fun for me because I can analyze my own identities and how I relate to media,” Anderson says.

These experiences have led him to his most recent project: a podcast that aims to bring new voices into the public media discourse.

“We want to spotlight people who aren’t reflected in normal media — to get people who don’t look like us to engage in important conversations,” he explains. “Not just talk about having a conversation, we want to actually have those conversations.”

Anderson is not yet sure what he wants to do after he graduates next May. He says he might go to graduate school, or he might take time off to pursue work that inspires him. Whatever he does, he knows he’ll be creating. “

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are studying whether video games can boost kids’ empathy, and to understand how learning such skills can change neural connections in the brain.
“The realization that these skills are actually trainable with video games is important because they are predictors of emotional well-being and health throughout life, and can be practiced anytime — with or without video games,” says Tammi Kral, a UW–Madison graduate student in UW-Madison Department of Psychology who led the research at the Center for Healthy Minds.
https://news.wisc.edu/a-video-game-can-change-the-brain-may-improve-empathy-in-middle-schoolers/